3 gallons Just hit the ceiling....

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cox8611

cox8611

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So after a successful brew day of the "Breakfast of Champions" Stout seen here:
http://hopville.com/recipe/372019/oatmeal-stout-recipes/breakfast-of-champions-stout

I set the beer in the garage with a blow out tube, with the expectation that a lot of it would blow out (got it pretty close to the top of the carboy). it was fermenting happily from a 3L starter at 64-68F after 12 hours of pitching. Went to replace the blow off with an airlock and started prying on the stopper and BAMMM like a gunshot the stopper and 3 gallons of beer spewed 14 feet onto my garage ceiling, wall, and everything else. I airlocked the remaining 2 gallons and cleaned up the substantial mess and found the stopper and blow off tube had been plugged with hop leaves and resin.

Just wanted to ask how often i should expect plugging blow offs with hop leaves. Yes i strained and whirlpooled my wort before letting it into the carboy. What is everyone's experience with how often this happens and would a clothes hanger fix this issue if i periodically poke it down the tubing until the blow off is done?

Thanks!

Nate
 
Pictures or it didn't happen!!

How large of a blowoff tube are you using? It shouldn't get clogged.. What are you using for fermentation?
 
Never happend to me.. Were you using whole hops of are we talking the residue you get from pellets? Yeah I guess try using a wider blowoff tube and get a bigger carboy of brew smaller batches. Cleaning must have been fun. :) And YES pictures please! :)
 
cox8611 said:
So after a successful brew day of the "Breakfast of Champions" Stout seen here:
http://hopville.com/recipe/372019/oatmeal-stout-recipes/breakfast-of-champions-stout

I set the beer in the garage with a blow out tube, with the expectation that a lot of it would blow out (got it pretty close to the top of the carboy). it was fermenting happily from a 3L starter at 64-68F after 12 hours of pitching. Went to replace the blow off with an airlock and started prying on the stopper and BAMMM like a gunshot the stopper and 3 gallons of beer spewed 14 feet onto my garage ceiling, wall, and everything else. I airlocked the remaining 2 gallons and cleaned up the substantial mess and found the stopper and blow off tube had been plugged with hop leaves and resin.

Just wanted to ask how often i should expect plugging blow offs with hop leaves. Yes i strained and whirlpooled my wort before letting it into the carboy. What is everyone's experience with how often this happens and would a clothes hanger fix this issue if i periodically poke it down the tubing until the blow off is done?

Thanks!

Nate
Click to expand...

Did this go into a 5-gallon carboy? If so, that would be mistake #1... I've found 5G carboys useless for primary fermentation for anything with a krausen during primary. You need at least a 6G carboy/BB for primary on a 5G batch of beer... if you're doing 5.5 G of post-boil and do have a 6G, try some Fermcap-S to cap your krausen and keep it from blowing off.

As far as the blowoff tube clogging... if you really did strain your wort when racking, then the difference between leaves and pellets should be minimal. If you have lots of large chunks/leaves in primary after straining, you're doing it wrong. :) There are strainers you can set inside your funnel when racking that might help with this... plus, you'd get a nice aeration from the trickling action.

I'm at a loss as to how there was enough contained CO2 in solution to propel over 50% of the volume 13 feet, but I'm no physicist. Hopefully someone that understands the math behind that stuff can explain why what you described isn't impossible...
 
Im guessing since you mentioned a stopper you used one of those small tubes that some vendors label a "blow off tube." That is the problem. You need to get yourself a few feet of 1" tube from the hardware store and call it a day. It fits snugly all by itself in the opening of the carboy without using a stopper. Its so big there is no way on earth anything is going to plug it either. Better luck next time!
 
So to give a better update, if i had a video or pics i would show. I can take some of the aftermath/spatter marks when i get home tonight. I actually whirlpooled half of the batch until my auto-siphon clogged, then strained the rest, so some leaf hops could have gone through before i started straining.

I would buy a 6 or 6.5 gal carboy but the $$ is tight these days, and i just bought a ton of leaf hops so there is no going back to pellets for a while. The blowoff tube has never done this before and it is a .25" ID i think... OD fits snug in a #7 stopper.

I will buy some of that 1" stuff and see what happens. i'll just bottle a batch and then re-brew this weekend. just hate to see all that beautiful substance spew all over my garage.

My guess is that the pressure built up in the carboy from the fermentation but forced enough of the gas through the plug to keep it from bursting. all the CO2 got pushed into the liquid like a keg, then the release of the pressure just brought it all into the air
 
First time I brewedi made the same mistake. Used a 5 gal carboy and a blowoff tube with a 1/4 ID. Came home from work and it had popped the blow off across the closet and put a nice beer spot on the ceiling. When I inspected the tube, sure enough it had been clogged by hops. Now I primary in buckets cuz I don't need to watch the ferm. I use hop bags and strainer. Ialsouse a larger blow off. No problems.
 
so how do you all clean out your 1" blowoff tube. mine has some crustees inside and soaking loosens them, but how do you scrub them out?
 
jangelj said:
so how do you all clean out your 1" blowoff tube. mine has some crustees inside and soaking loosens them, but how do you scrub them out?
Click to expand...

Haven't tried it yet but the latest is either a gun cleaning rod or tie a rag to the middle of a string and pass the string through, then run the rag fore and aft, etc.:rockin:
 
I have just thrown my 1/4" tubing away... too much trouble/really cheap.

I would say use a bottle brush cleaner with PBW (beer-brite) that will most likely get everything.
 
I have switched from the blow off tube to just a piece of aluminium foil over the top. As long as the carboy in in a container (bathtub, sink or bigger bucket) it is easier to clean up after transfer.
 
buy a gardening hose (10m) chop it up and discart after use... don't know how it is in the states but here it comes down to a few euro cents per blowoff tube which is a great price for not having to clean it!
 
chumprock said:
I came here for the pictures.
Click to expand...

Check the height.

1188-hit-ceiling-wort-check-slight-discoloration-ceiling.jpg


1187-dscn2349.jpg
 
Beer geyser man.. it happed to me as well. I learned to never primary in a 5 gal carboy and to always use a 1 inch blow off tube.
 
It's not 1" it's 1.25"OD vinyl hose for a proper blow-off tube, and that's definitely the way to go. The likelihood of enough gunk to block it or more pressure than it can handle are pretty low.
 

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